“Thank you so much,” said the international jurist in a moment of jest. “If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump.”
Jon Queally |
The international reputation of the Nobel Peace Prize, which has suffered in progressive and human rights circles over recent years, may be on the path to improvement after Friday’s announcement that this year’s award has been given to Navi Pillay, a person of “exceptional courage” who has been at the forefront of accountability efforts for apartheid, prosecuting war crimes, and upholding international law for decades.
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In its statement, The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Pillay—who during her career served as a judge on the High Court in South Africa, her native country, and later the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court (ICC)—“has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.”
Pillay also served for six years as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 2008 to 2014, and more recently chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which generated a 2025 report concluding that the Israeli government had committed genocide in Gaza.
“The last thing I did is the report on Gaza naming what is happening there as genocide. One of the main reactions to that report [was] paying tribute to me for my courage.. why would you need courage to speak the truth?” Navi Pillay upon winning the 2026 Nobel peace prize https://t.co/hYPA94eFLe
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) October 9, 2026
“The last thing I did is the report on Gaza naming what is happening there as genocide,” Pillay said Friday. “One of the main reactions to that report is paying tribute to me for my ‘courage.’ And you can imagine our surprise—why would you need courage to speak the truth?”
“Is it true?” asked Pillay when first notified of the award, fittingly while at the Nuremburg Court where Nazi’s were tried for their atrocities of last century.
In a moment of levity, surrounded by colleagues applauding her achievement, Pillay said, “Thank you so much. If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with [US President Donald] Trump.”
Trump, accused of war crimes himself, has notoriously said he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize despite his record of violating international laws, kidnapping or assassinating foreign heads of state, initiating wars of aggression, and carrying out a lawless campaign of lethal attacks in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean which human rights experts have denounced as “murder spree.”
Volker Türk, the current UN high commissioner for human rights, said the award going to Pillay represents “a proud moment for the global human rights movement,” and that to call it “well-deserved” would be “a understatement.”
“At a time when human rights are under attack on so many fronts, including from those who wield enormous power, this award is particularly poignant,” Türk continued. “It is an award to all those who, around the world, dedicate their lives to the defense of human rights—at great risk to their security.”
Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, called Pillay’s selection an “amazing moment” for human rights.
“We are at the Nuremberg Court; I cannot think of a stronger symbol for her Nobel prize,” said Callamard. “We are all so thrilled!”
Amazing moment. Navi Pillay has received the Nobel Peace Prize ! https://t.co/HL3r1PJzLO We are at the Nuremberg Court; I cannot think of a stronger symbol for her Nobel prize. We are all so thrilled! This is her first reactions upon hearing the news: https://t.co/Crbj6XdiyQ
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) October 9, 2026
“At a time of existential challenges—including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time—international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity,” the Nobel Committee said in its announcement.
Warning that “the system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack,” the committee said “a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respect for law and justice” threatens peace and stability worldwide, a veiled but clear reference to the antagonism the US government under Trump has shown to the ICC, the United Nations, and other legal institutions and frameworks.
“Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines stability, trust and peaceful co-existence,” the statement said. And continued:
History has shown that a world operating without the rule of law is unjust, unwise and inhumane. The judges – those who guard the thin red line between order and chaos—are therefore highly deserving of our praise. But today, as these same judges are sanctioned, and their institutions are attacked, we need people of courage, vision and determination—qualities that Navi Pillay demonstrates in her work on the bench.
Pillay, it concluded, “is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time. Her distinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law. Navi Pillay’s commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world.”
As Türk put it in his remarks, recognition of Pillay’s work and legacy by the Nobel committee is “a reaffirmation that human rights, the rule of law and justice and accountability are fundamental to everything—to peace, security and prosperity.”
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